


I Will Follow You Into The Dark

by RainbowRandomness



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Alternate Universe, Based on a Tumblr Post, M/M, Mental Health Issues, mental hopsital
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-20
Updated: 2013-08-21
Packaged: 2017-12-24 03:44:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/934906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowRandomness/pseuds/RainbowRandomness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cecil is just a patient in a mental hospital, Carlos is his doctor and Night Vale Radio is something Cecil is allowed to do because it’s an outlet for his fantasy world but Cecil thinks it’s all real, even though it's not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Love Of Mine, Some Day You Will Die

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this Tumblr post: http://rocket8ootsandpir8hats.tumblr.com/post/58773046343/sad-wtnv-time
> 
> Title from the song _I Will Follow You Into The Dark_ by Death Cab For Cutie
> 
> I don't know why I chose to name it after that song but it stuck so deal with it, onwards to the fanfic.

When Carlos had first begun working at the hospital, it became clear that his job would not be easy.

Sure, he had been preparing himself for just that; working in a psychiatric hospital was never going to be easy, but it was something he wished to do. He wanted to help people get better, make sure those in need would never feel alone. He had worked hard and prepared himself for this job for so long but it became so very clear upon entering the hospital, that his job would not be easy.

Of course, there were the obvious things that you learnt about that could make your job difficult; patients who refused to take their medicine, patients who hurt themselves or others and had to be held down and tranquilized.

There were so many things that would make his job difficult but he could never prepare himself for the emotional side of the job; the part of the job that people didn’t really speak about greatly, the part of the job where he cared so deeply for his patients well being and felt so hollow each time he saw them in their unhealthy state and so happy when he saw them trying their hardest to get better.

And one of his most difficult and emotional wrecking patient, was one Cecil Baldwin.

\---

“Carlos, Carlos! There are hoodie figures in the dog park again Carlos, look at them!”

Carlos sighed, walking towards the window that Cecil was pointing at, whose face was lit up and excited, as it usually was, as he stared down at the people in the dog park. Carlos looked down at the park too, noticing a group of teenagers in jackets with the hoods pulled up, looking as menacing as some lanky teenagers can when you can’t see their faces. They were milling about, as they usually did, kicking around a football as their rowdy voices reached up into the air and Carlos looked towards Cecil to find him gazing down at them with a twinge of longing in his green eyes.

“I didn’t know the hooded figures enjoyed kicking around a ball,” he said as if impressed by their ability to do so, “I’ll have to tell the citizens of Night Vale about this new development and remind them not to enter the dog park in case the hooded figures kick the ball at them. That could be painful.”

Carlos watched as Cecil leaned away from the window sill and wandered back over to his desk, where he sat down and began to scribble into his notebook furiously. Carlos guessed he was noting down the “new development of the hooded figures in the dog park” and left him to it, peering back down at the teenagers before leaving the room and shutting the door softly behind him.

\---

Sometimes Carlos wondered if Cecil would have written fantasy books if he had not been in the hospital; he could do it, his ongoing podcast showed he was perfectly capable of imagining up the most bizarre ideas and places, as well as people.

For example, when Carlos had gone in to check on how Cecil was doing the day before, he had found the man sitting on his bed, his sketchbook open in his lap as he used a blunt pencil to draw haphazardly upon the page. A plate of unfinished food was on the bedside table and Carlos inquired as to why Cecil had not finished it, watching as green eyes raised to meet his as the pencil stopped moving across the page.

“The angels still haven’t given old woman Josie her salt back,” he said and Carlos nodded while Cecil returned to drawing in the sketchbook, his brows furrowed in concentration.

He had stood by the door for a while before moving closer to take away the unfinished plate of food. As he did so, he had looked over at the sketchbook to find Cecil drawing a shaded figure with large wings and a shining hallow around its head.

“One of the angels are black,” Cecil spoke, his eyes never leaving the page as he continued to work. Carlos nodded before leaving with the unfinished food to return the plate to Josie, the cafeteria lady.

\---

Dana, one of the student nurses, had gone on holiday with her twin sister the week before a storm hit. The skies were heavily clouded, the streets often wet with the endless stream of rain that continued to follow through until the storm actually took place, lightning and thunder scaring some of the other patience in the ward.

When Carlos had gone to check on Cecil, he found him huddled in the corner beneath the window, his bedcover held tight around his shaking frame. He seemed scared and Carlos knelt down in front of him, placing a large hand on his shoulder.

“Cecil? Is the storm scaring you?” he asked, keeping his voice calm and soothing as those green eyes looked up at him, wide and frightened behind the frames of his glasses.

“It’s a sandstorm Carlos, a sandstorm has hit!” he whispered harshly, glancing once up at the window before looking back at Carlos in front of him.

Carlos raised an eyebrow, but before he could tell Cecil it was just another rain storm, not a sandstorm, Cecil reached forward and grabbed his white coat, his fist trembling as he gripped him hard.

“I-I saw Dana, she- she was killed by another Dana, someone who looked just like her! She used the stapler, she- the other Dana, she came from the sandstorm, I- she- I couldn’t save-”

Carlos sighed, closing his eyes for a moment before he sat down beside Cecil and brought the trembling man into his side with an arm around his shoulders, tucking the bedcover closer to his shaking body. He leaned his head atop Cecil’s, stroking his arm idly in an attempt to calm the other man. It worked, somewhat, his body ceasing to shake until he slumped against Carlos’ side, an exhausted sigh leaving his lips.

It was a while before Cecil calmed down enough for Carlos to get him to agree to go to bed. He helped the tired man up from the floor, walking him over to the bed as Cecil glanced nervously at the window where the storm continued, rain making a light tapping sound against the glass.

Helping him into bed, Carlos brought the cover up to Cecil’s shoulder, watching as his patient snuggled down into the pillows, removing his glasses quickly and placing them onto the bedside table. He looked up at Carlos before glancing again at the window and Carlos went over to shut the blinds, blocking out the outside world and leaving the room completely dark.

A light turned on from behind him and when he turned around, Cecil was sitting up in bed, the bedside lamp on. He looked nervous before he asked timidly, “Can I have the night light on tonight, please?”

Nodding, Carlos went over to the bed again, accepting the nightlight in the shape of a star that Cecil gave him from the bedside table, and he plugged it into the socket in the wall by the door. Once it was plugged in, he flipped the switch to turn it on at the same time that Cecil turned off the bedside lamp. The room was cast into darkness again but with a soft yellow glow that seemed to comfort Cecil who slumped back against his pillows and snuggled beneath the bedcover, his eyes half lidded as he smiled at Carlos.

“Thank you,” he said and Carlos nodded again before leaving the room, Cecil’s eyes watching him sleepily until the door clicked shut behind him.

\---

The clock in Cecil’s room had broken and he hadn’t told anyone. The only reason anyone found out was because Carlos had forgotten to wear his watch one day and had looked to the clock to find that the hands were unmoving, the gentle hum of the clock ticking missing from the room.

“How long as the clock been broken Cecil?” Carlos asked, taking the clock off of the wall to examine it. He heard Cecil shift in his desk chair as he scribbled in his notebook, the sound of pen scratching paper the only sound in the otherwise silent room.

“Time does not exist in Night Vale,” he replied offhandedly, as if that were common knowledge. Carlos was silent for a moment before he returned the broken clock to its hook on the wall and when he turned around, Cecil was smiling at him fondly, as if, at last, he had caught on to the inner workings of Night Vale and was settling in nicely.

He cleared his throat, a little flustered, although he was unsure why, before he returned to his seat beside Cecil, watching as his patient scribbled down random facts and notes about his fantasy world while stealing quick glances towards Carlos that he thought his doctor couldn’t see.

\---

It was a warm evening when Carlos and Cecil took a walk around the field behind the hospital. Cecil enjoyed walking around the field when the other patients were inside and it was just him and Carlos walking amongst the grass and flowers and curious bees. He liked the peace, the quiet and the gentle breeze as the sun began to set.

Carlos enjoyed his walks with Cecil too; it got them both out of the hospital and it was nice, just the two of them walking around the empty field with the dying light of the day casting an orange glow to everything. It was peaceful, and he closed his eyes as he walked, breathing in the scent of freshly cut grass and the mixture of pollen from so many different flowers.

Near the bottom of the field were three benches, one of them being in the middle with the other two benches either side of that one a few feet away. Cecil went up to the middle one and sat down, leaning back against the wood with a contented sigh. Carlos joined him, sitting down and looking towards the sky as stars began to appear behind lazy clouds that drifted by.

The bench shifted and Carlos looked out of the corner of his eye to see Cecil move closer to him. He looked a little nervous, glancing at Carlos quickly before he plucked up his courage and rested his head against Carlos’ shoulder, his hands wringing themselves together as if he was debating whether or not what he just did was a smart move before Carlos reached out and placed his hand upon Cecil’s, stopping their fluttering motions.

He sighed as he rested his head atop Cecil’s, feeling the anxious energy leave the man beneath him as Cecil laced their fingers together. They looked up to the sky and watched as the colours changed from orange and pink to deep blues and purples, the stars twinkling like the jewels on a necklace.

Yes, Carlos knew that his growing affections for his darling patient would be frowned upon, but Carlos knew his job wouldn’t be easy and to be honest, he was glad it wasn’t.

Glancing down for a moment, he caught Cecil’s gaze, his eyes wide and curious and his irises a stunning shade of green that reminded Carlos of running through Summer fields when he was a boy. He gave a slight smile and Cecil smiled back before their gazes returned to the night sky.

Yes, he thought, he had known his job would never be easy, but he would never have it any other way.


	2. But I'll Be Close Behind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cecil is just a patient in a mental hospital, Carlos is his doctor and Night Vale Radio is something Cecil is allowed to do because it’s an outlet for his fantasy world but Cecil thinks it’s all real, even though it's not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys wanted me to continue with this so here's some more, hopefully I'll think up some more ideas and keep going with these odd little moments.

Cecil didn’t like Nancy the librarian; Carlos guessed it was because when she visited, she batted her eyes at him and pursed her sparkly glossed lips as she carried new books back and forth from patients rooms. Whenever she had visited Cecil though, her bright eyes would go a little hard, her smile turning somewhat cruel. This was only because Cecil, in his jealous state not so long ago, had thrown one of the books at her after he had seen her flirting with Carlos.

It was a good thing Carlos had come along to stop anything bad (well, worse than having a book thrown at you) from happening, although Nancy’s innocent look and damsel in distress act had made the hairs on Carlos’ neck stand on end while Cecil glared at her from the corner of the room where he was curled in on himself, the new books scattered across the floor.

After that incident, Carlos would take the new books Cecil had asked for from Nancy at the front entrance to the hospital and take them to Cecil’s room, ignoring the way Nancy lowered her lids and bit her lip at him before she made her way to the other patient’s rooms.

Carlos couldn’t help but laugh a little when he saw Cecil’s scribbled note of _‘librarians are evil’_ in his Night Vale notebook.

\---

“How are the angels today, Josie?” Carlos overheard Cecil ask Josie, the cafeteria lady one afternoon. He glanced over his shoulder from where he was sitting at one of the lunch tables to see Cecil smiling excitedly as Josie gave him the meal of the day and a special slice of cake (Carlos knew she thought of Cecil as her favourite; he also knew she enjoyed his podcast and was thrilled that she was a part of it).

“Oh, they’re very well, thank you Cecil. They changed my light bulb for me the other day, it was very kind of them to do so.”

Carlos watched fondly as Cecil’s frame began to practically buzz from excitement as Josie spoke of her angels, his smile blinding as he adjusted his glasses on his nose and inquired, “Was it the black angel who changed the light?”

Ever the good soul, Josie nodded with a smile and said, “Oh yes, the black one changed the light bulb for me while another angel held the small step ladder for him so he wouldn’t fall.”

“Surely his wings could save him from falling?” Cecil asked, slightly puzzled but Josie smiled as she served the next person in line, replying, “Even angels can fall my dear.”

Cecil stood there for another moment, his eyes looking distant, as if he were lost in thought, but then his green eyes cleared and he gave a cheeky grin as he told her, “You could sell the light bulb for good money Josie; I’m sure people would love to buy a light bulb that has been touched by an angel.”

“Indeed they might Cecil, indeed they might,” came her response as she slipped another slice of cake onto his tray. He beamed at her before bouncing away to the table by the window, his notebook in hand as he sat down and began furiously writing in it, his head bent low and his food somewhat forgotten.

Carlos couldn’t help but stifle a chuckle when he saw Cecil take a bite of one of the cakes and practically melt as he sent Josie a thumbs up from across the room.

\---

“Cecil, why is there a cat in your bathroom?”

Turning around to face his patient, he was met with an joyful grin as Cecil leant back in his chair, his fingers lacing together over his stomach as he said, “That’s Koscheck, Night Vale radios own floating cat.”

Carlos’ brows knitted together for a moment before he turned back to the ‘floating’ cat (which was not floating at all, but was in fact sitting on the sink and dangling it’s fat and fluffy tail off the side as it drunk water from the leaking tap) and said slowly, “Koscheck.”

The cat glanced up at him briefly upon hearing its given name, before it returned to lapping away at the dripping water.

“Cecil, how long has the cat been in the bathroom?” Carlos asked on a sigh, his shoulders slumping slightly as if in defeat as he turned again to look at Cecil.

Cecil seemed to think for a moment, tapping his pen against his lip as he looked towards Koscheck through the gap where Carlos’ body did not fully block out the view of the bathroom. He bit his lip before he replied, somewhat offhand, “A week? Perhaps two?”

Taking the end of the pen into his mouth, he bit it before shrugging and turning back to write into his notebook.

Carlos felt at a loss for words for a moment before he asked, “How did the cat get here?” There was no way Cecil would have been able to leave the hospital to pick up a _cat_ and bring it back, Carlos was sure.

“I left the bathroom window open one night and he climbed through,” Cecil says with another shrug. Carlos guesses the cat probably scaled the pipe that is attached to the wall next to Cecil’s bathroom window and sighs before leaving the room.

\---

He returns later with a cat bed, two bowls and some cat food. Cecil looks delighted when he comes walking into his room with the items in his arms, the tinned foods in a bag dangling from his fingers. He gives Cecil a shy but happy smile, watching with fond eyes as Cecil takes the cat bed from him and sets it up by his own bed while Carlos sets up the two bowls on a mat, one for food, the other for water. He empties the food into one of the bowls before going into the bathroom and filling up the other bowl, Koscheck watching him from the lid of the toilet seat the whole time.

When Carlos left the bathroom to place the water bowl by the bowl of cat food, Cecil rushed past him into the bathroom, returning with Koscheck in his arms and a grin that reminded Carlos of the Cheshire cat from _Alice In Wonderland_.

He went over and placed the cat into the bed and knelt beside it on the floor, stroking the cat’s fuzzy ears as it purred. Carlos watched from a distance until Cecil looked up at him and beckoned him forward, his hand gesturing for him to join him on the floor. Carlos did and began to pet the cats back, reaching up to stroke beneath its chin.

It continued to purr contently as they both sat there, stroking its soft fur as the light outside the window turned from a pale blue to a burning orange, although neither of them really noticed or cared at all.

**Author's Note:**

> I just saw the Tumblr post and suddenly my head was filled with ideas and the next thing I knew, I'd written a fanfic, gosh damn.  
> Seriously, it'd make so much bloody sense if Cecil was just a mental patient, but obviously that's not the case for the podcast, it's just an interesting idea to explore in fanfiction. It's all fun and stuff, of course.  
> Well, I hope you enjoyed this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it, comments and kudos are nice, etc. etc.


End file.
